Tiebreaker
by TheAngel'sLover
Summary: Two warriors. Two VERY stubborn warriors, Two VERY stubborn warriors who won't admit their feelings, and one mischievous scheming friend.
1. Chapter 1

"What do mean my technique is sloppy!?"

Clang!

"You're leaving too many openings!"

Clash!

"I do no-"

Woosh!

"See! If you weren't so strong that swipe would have got-"

Bang!

"Ah ha! Look whose so high and mighty now!! If you hadn't been standing there lecturing me…"

And so the skirmish escalated. Ven rolled his eyes. With a huge sigh he looked lazily around the room but a yelp from Terra brought his attention back to the duel.

Terra had been knocked completely to the ground. With a sheepish look he got up, rubbing his hindquarters, the sheepishness being replaced with burning shame. Aqua was right, he left way too many openings.

Aqua meanwhile was standing triumphantly with her keyblade extended a small smirk tugging at the edges of her mouth.

Ven thought back to the humble origins that culminated in this event. Terra teased Aqua about something or rather concerning her keyblade and she retorted back, Terra became defensive and snapped, Aqua returned the hostility…blah blah blah blah… the fight was taken to the arena and ended with Aqua proving her superiority and Terra getting his pride and his backside wounded. Seriously, these two really needed to get over themselves or admit… if light bulbs could be seen over someone's head they would have seen Ventus's pop on and almost shatter from the force of the idea. An impish smile spread across his features. He wasn't usually devious, but when you can _clearly _see that two of your best friends in the whole world are nuts about each other but are so equally stubborn the task of tiebreaker usually falls on someone else. Ven just happened to be that someone else.

"What's so funny 'Mr. I'm-totally-not-taking-sides'?" Terra grumbled, obviously peeved at being beaten again Aqua and Ventus's mischievous grin.

"Well she was right about you having openings…" Ven started, he saw Aqua glow and Terra glare. Just like the light bulbs, if there were daggers they would be racing towards Aqua at the speed of light.

"However you are much stronger physically so if you could work on breaking her defense you could get the upper hand." He added quickly, this time it was Aqua's turn to glare and Terra's to glow.

"Ha! See!" Terra gloated. "I _am_ stronger." "And handsome" he said smoothly, running a hand through his hair."

"Too bad your brains don't add up to complete picture of perfection." Aqua retorted. Like cats the keyblades came out and they had jumped back into fighting stances. Ven didn't know who was going to hiss first. He was surprised, Aqua usually tried to be civil when they argued, that last comment showed she was getting tired of putting up with Terra's shenanigans.

"Oh well look at the time! It's almost dinner!! And we have an exam on magic tomorrow, my, my, my." Ventus said pushing though the circling wolves, throwing each a look of amused exasperation as he passed.

"I guess it is that time" Aqua replied curtly, keeping her hard gaze on Terra.

"Quite," came an equally chilly response.

"Come on, I heard that there's going to be something special for dessert…"

It was like a switch had been flipped.

"Dessert?" Terra said, the keyblade disappearing, his eyes widening.

"Yea! So let's _go_…" Ven urged, seeing he had said the magic words. He saw Aqua open her mouth to say something, but not wanting to have the two go at it again he ran behind them as quick as a wink, placed one hand on the others back and began to push them towards the exit, when they made it into the hall without mishap he walked between them, striking up a neutral conversation until he felt the danger passed, soon all three were joking and smiling.

He was the happy go lucky friend, the one everyone thought was cute, the one who cheered everyone up, but he knew that he was going to have to go down another path to get these two sorted out.

"Ventus the Matchmaker Master", he mused to himself, rolling the title around in his head. The smile retuned as he hung back to watch Aqua and Terra enter the cafeteria.

* * *

**A/N**: More to come, and I apologize if it's slightly OOC. Please review, given my recent stints of writers block, feedback is much appreciated!

Also do forgive if there are lengthened periods of time between chapter uploads, having an almost three year old makes life interesting :-)

Many thanks to Fighter le Fey for the inspiration.


	2. Chapter 2

Terra and Aqua had to agree on one thing. Ventus was up to something. They couldn't put their fingers on it but he was acting strangely, well take that back, more strange than usual.

"What's up with Ven?" Terra asked in a whisper while he and Aqua poured over their books in the library. Watching blond spikes and on occasion blue eyes appear from around the corners of bookshelves near by which whipped out of sight when they looked over their shoulders.

"He's fast I'll give him that" Aqua whispered back giggling when the eyes slowly appeared and disappeared for at least the fourth time, "but his stealth is a bit lacking."

They both chuckled. Ventus had excused himself from their little study group earlier with some silly explanation about Master Eraqus, but the odd grin he seemed to wearing lately showed he was fibbing.

"Well, whatever he's doing it's making me worry that he got hit with a koo-koo spell or something from that exam two weeks ago." Said Terra, nodding his head in the direction of the eyes.

"He may be a little nutty at times, but it just adds to his charm."

"Oh so he's charming?" Terra tried to ask nonchalantly. He was good at masking emotion, but when something really bothered him his mask faltered, like his agreed tendency of leaving openings in his technique, an opening to his real self appeared, even if it was momentary. Sort of like sunshine on a cloudy day. Aqua saw this and blushed slightly.

"Yes. But you have your own… particular…" she felt like she was walking through a minefield as she looked for words, "charismatic charm…" she stopped.

This wasn't going the way she planned. Terra, noticing her pause leaned in closer, folding his arms and putting them on the table, resting his head where his forearms crossed.

"Really? Enlighten me." The way his eyes flashed when he said that made Aqua turn even redder.

They didn't notice that an ear had come to replace the eyes. What they also were failing to see was Ventus crossing his fingers and mouthing, "Come on… just say something… don't mess this up…." to the bookcase behind which he crouched.

"Um, er, well…" She fumbled for a reply as she felt Terra's curious but intense gaze focused on her. "You…"

"Are dashing and handsome?" Terra asked hopefully. He loved to play that card but whenever he did it brought him nothing but a stonewall from Aqua.

He'd never admit it, but he always felt like she should just slap him instead of glare. A glare from Aqua could send anyone running or if they were feeling brave, quaking in their boots.

"Hmmm, nice try…" she said, glancing at him, feeling relieved that she could skirt the question.

But when her casual glance rested on his eyes her heart stopped for a beat. When you've known someone for a while and see them everyday you begin to take their appearance for granted. She'd known Terra for years, but now that she was staring directly at his cobalt eyes… he must have felt a similar feeling because he blinked twice, cleared his throat, and pulled himself into an upright position. Aqua scratched the back of her head and promptly pulled a book from the pile on the table, opening to a random page, read it for a minute before she realized it was upside-down, up-righted it and blushed, focusing all her energy into reading the page. Terra had noticed this mistake and smiled a very small but triumphant smile.

Ventus was practically jumping up in down and dancing around with glee. So far his plan was working. It may take a while but by golly he was going to see those two drag this out to the very end.

* * *

**A/N**: Ok so this was shorter and as the story goes on it might get a little more OOCtastic and I apologize.

I'm usually militant about keeping the characters as close as possible to the originals, but sometimes it's fun to veer off the conventional path.

Like/ don't like, let me know! Thank you to all who are giving feedback! It's great to hear what everyone's thoughts on this are.


	3. Chapter 3

Vetnus was quite proud. At least _some _progress had been made. After the Library conversation he noticed they had toned down the bickering performances. A sudden yelp from the training area brought him out of his smug mood.

"_Those two!"_ he thought as he ran in the direction of the yell.

When he arrived his worst fears almost seemed to be realized until the two stopped and turned to see who had entered.

"Hey Ven!" Aqua called.

He recovered from his momentary shock. They were in the arena but they weren't trying to kill each other? Well hallelujah and howdy…

This joy was soon snuffed out when Terra, seeing Aqua wasn't paying too much attention, decided to pounce.

"A ha!"

"Terra!" she shrieked in anger and surprise.

Ventus slapped his palm to his forehead while Terra and Aqua whirled around the room like demented honeybees.

"_They just won't let it rest." _As this phrase crossed his mind the invisible light bulb above his head flicked on. He whistled. Both bees stopped buzzing.

"Come on guys." He said in an exasperated tone.

"What?" They snapped in unison. Ven stumbled back melodramatically, clutching his heart.

"Yeesh! Who needs a keyblade when you guys sound like that?"

"Sorry Ven" Aqua said when she realized she had probably sounded too harsh. Terra seemed to feel the same way, but he just nodded after her.

"_Mr. Stoic"_ she thought with an inner chuckle.

"I'm afraid…" Ven began his mischievous grin appearing as he spoke. Upon seeing it, both Terra and Aqua took a step back. They'd been seeing that expression too much lately.

"Sorry isn't gonna cut it this time," he continued, knowing full well they were nervous of his smile. He watched as they threw each other anxious glances.

"Ven…" Terra began, sounding somewhere between worried and wary.

"Since I have to put up with you two constantly bickering I think it's fair to say you owe me a favor."

This didn't sound good.

"I want you guys to apologize to each other."

They let out a sigh of relief. That didn't sound so bad after all. He had a point, so they might as well humor him.

"Fine." They said.

"_But_…" Ven added, "I have to deem it a worthy apology."

"Hey!" Terra protested

"Too late! You guys agreed!" Ventus said beaming, dancing around them in a victory circle.

Take back what was thought about it not being such a bad idea. Ventus didn't even care that they were smoldering, sending angry vibes at him, it was Ven: 2 Them: 0.

"Alright you two, get to it!" he said with a clap of his hands, leaning against the wall. When they didn't budge he gestured his hand towards them.

"It's all you guys now."

Why did his smile have to be so infectious? Denying him anything when he was all sunshine, rainbows and innocence was akin to the feeling of yanking away a little kid's favorite toy.

With a sigh from each they turned and looked at each other.

"I'm sorry…" Terra began stiffly

"Nope! That was awful, sound like you mean it."

"Who made you director?" Terra snapped.

"You did." Ventus replied, his smile brightening, "I said you guys were free once I deemed it acceptable!"

Terra opened his mouth to reply, but the "neener-neener" look on Ven's face made him shut it. He reminded himself to ask about details of deals made with Ven in the future.

Aqua watched this exchange with some amusement. Although she's seen Terra look defeated before, but this took the cake.

"Now Terra," said Ventus, relishing his upper hand, "Kneel down…"

"Whoa now!"

"Ah! Ah! Ah! No no no!" Ven replied, wagging his finger, to Terra's renewed protesting, "You have to."

"But"

Ven just pointed down.

Aqua could see it took every ounce of self-control Terra possessed to swallow his pride as he sank to one knee. She could also see Ven was not going to make this easy.

"Now take her hand…"

This time it was Aqua's turn to object.

"Ven…"

"Ahem. The more you two gripe the longer it's gonna take."

Terra took her hand like a robot. However when they touched a spark flowed though them. Their eyes met briefly in surprise, but with Ven's gaze boring holes into them, they shrugged it off.

"Now, with passion…"

"Don't push your luck," Terra growled, the hand holding Aqua's tightening. When his eyes shifted back to her face she gulped. She felt like she had at the library, it was almost as if was falling into them the longer she stared.

"As I said before, with passion," Ven continued, he was really enjoying his little fantasy too much. "Aqua, I am truly sorry for all the times I have offended you whether or not it was intentional."

"Aqua, I am truly sorry for all the times I have offended you whether or not it was intentional."

Terra repeated the words, but when he said them he actually sounded sorry. Aqua couldn't tell if he was playing to Ven's humor or if he was genuine. Something in his eyes said he meant it.

"Bravo!" Said Ven, clapping.

"Aqua," he continues turning to her. "Terra, I forgive you. I also wish to apologize for anything I have said that might have upset you."

"Terra, I forgive you. I also wish to apologize for anything I have said that might have upset you."

Her delivery sounded more awkward than his, but still sincere. She found herself actually feeling bad about the way she'd treated Terra in the past. He gave her hand a squeeze. She jumped.

"Now for the finale!" Ventus cried with bravado, "Hug to seal the deal!"

Aqua and Terra looked at each other dubiously. They might as well get it over with.

Terra stood up gracefully, Aqua's hand still in his, and pulled her into an embrace. It was a kind hug, but still awkward. When they heard one another's heartbeats speed up they started to pull apart. It was getting awfully hot in the room.

"Wait…" Said Ven as he made a picture gesture with his hand, moving it around like he was trying to get a good shot.

"And now kiss her on the cheek…"

Terra found himself wanting to obey. He was on the verge of leaning in when he realized what it would mean if he did. Aqua apparently felt the same way because there was a squeal from Ven and the sound of water hitting the floor.

She had pulled away and shot an elemental spell that corresponded with her name at Ventus. He was sopping wet but was already zipping down the hall cackling with unsuppressed glee, safely out of Aqua's range.

Terra had to laugh. As weird as Ven's request had been he still couldn't believe he'd gone through with it, and that he had enjoyed it.


	4. Chapter 4

Ven was having a blast. He had "I'm the youngest" status as a "get out of jail free" card, but if that excuse didn't fly he piled on the happy-go lucky until people smiled in exasperation and forgive him because he was just so darn cute.

However it was very rare for him to act like he was. Although he was naturally upbeat he never used it the way he was now. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Sometimes he was so proud of himself he would constantly land back into reality with a thud. He had to focus on the task at hand, and training too of course, but this was much more fun. Although he'd begun the domino effect he needed to make sure it continued.

Okay, so maybe the whole apology was a bit _too_ much but it was such a perfect opportunity he couldn't pass it up.

The best part was that Terra and Aqua were becoming closer not so much from his meddling but at their confusion over his odd behavior.

Now he was on the look out for another chance to work his matchmaker magic. His two friends were careful when they were around him now, so he had to lie low, but luckily he didn't have to wait too long…

Ventus was wondering the halls after coming back from an errand when he spotted Terra as he rounded a corner. Although he was further down, Ven's trusty old thinking cap dinged to life.

He fell back a little, waiting for Terra to come down, when he reached halfway Ven began to talk just loud enough to be heard,

"You really think so? What would Terra say?" He said in a surprised tone. He heard the footsteps in the hall come to an abrupt stop.

He pretended to fill in a response with excited whispers, throwing in a couple audible words.

"Psst psst psst… he'd never believe… whisper whisper… but what would…"

"Aw come Aqua," Ven said when he made sure the footsteps hadn't moved, "You're great at being honest, why is this so hard? You guys are so stubborn."

Terra began to move towards him.

"I hear footsteps," Ven said with dramatic surprise, smirking as he looked at that air where his invisible partner stood. He peeked around the corner to see how close Terra was. Whipping back around he lowered his voice to an urgent whisper,

"It's Terra!"

He added a gasp and ran along down the corridor where he stood to simulate someone running away. He made it back to the corner just in time to look surprised when Terra showed up.

"Hey Ven," Terra said with an air of calm that tried to disguise his interest.

"Oh hey Terra!" Ven replied with surprised innocence.

"Who were you talking to?"

"What?"

"I heard someone running down the hall, it sounded like Aqua"

"Oh…" Ven paled right on cue.

"Were you guys talking about me?"

"What gave you that impression?" he said sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Maybe he should be an actor.

"Oh, well, nothing…" Terra grumbled in embarrassment. "Just thought I heard my name."

"Well, maybe you did" Ven replied flashing a knowing smile, before bolting back down the hall, leaving Terra standing frozen to his spot, a smile creeping over his face. He put his hands behind his head.

"_Well, well, well," _he thought.

Later that evening Terra arrived to dinner after Aqua and Ven. As he opened the door he heard the two deep in conversation and laughing. When they looked up Ven went

"Shh."

Aqua nodded, stifling a giggle, but when her gaze fell on Terra her eyes were glowing. Terra felt himself perk up, his chest puffing out slightly as he ambled over with an air of confidence. Feeling brave he sat next to Aqua.

"Hey" he said

"Hi" she replied almost sounding shy.

Ven leaned back and smiled. His work was almost done.

* * *

**A/N**: Indeed.

I know this is a wee bit too short but hopefully the next chapter will suffice. *evil grin*

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read thus far. I love hearing comments and criticisms, whatever anyone has to say.

Please continue to let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

"_Meet me in the courtyard tonight after dinner"_. Her eyes read the note and her heartbeat zoomed such to an impossible rate that she felt faint. She knew who had sent it.

After the incident in the library, the training fiasco, and from what Ven had confided, she knew that something had to be said. Terra had been much nicer and more agreeable after dinner a couple nights back, still impish at times, but she was finding his impishness cute. When that realization hit her she had felt the blood drain from her face. _"Oh no"_. She tried to stop and reanalyze but not matter how many times she did, she arrived that the same conclusion.

As the day passed she felt the butterflies in her stomach became unbearable. Her gait became stiff and she seemed to be shaking slightly from head to toe. She was able to compose herself enough in time for dinner. When she got there Terra and Ven were already hooting and hollering about something. As she made her way to the table she felt their gazes burn into her, not unkindly mind you but it still felt like she was under a spotlight.

Dinner seemed to go by without a hitch and she became so involved in the conversation she almost completely forgot what she was supposed to do after. She was reminded when Terra stood and bid his farewell. He was so calm and collected she felt the pangs of envy Well, he was always Mr. Cool anyway.

After he had left she stayed and talked with Ven for a while to try and make her leaving after Terra look less conspicuous, but he seemed agitated and distant so she gave up.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ven," she said getting up, trying to look as tranquil as Terra had when he had left. Once the doors closed behind her she walked a few paces down the hall, stopped and sighed.

"Ok. Let's go," she said to herself, forcing her feet to go in the direction of the courtyard

Once Terra entered the courtyard and saw he was alone he let his defenses down. That was the longest dinner of his life. He wanted to be sure he made it outside first. He looked at the note _"Meet me in the courtyard tonight after dinner"_. The sound of the doors opening drew him out of his reverie. He quickly stuffed the note into his pocket, ran his hand nervously through his hair, took a deep breath and turned to face Aqua who was standing at the top of the stairs.

A long moment passed between them. While she stood there a light breeze ruffled her turquoise hair so that it fluttered around her face. The moon decided to take its cue and shine some of its light down on her, making her glow, enhancing her beauty. Terra released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Unbeknownst to him Aqua felt the same as she looked at him. His dark brown hair swaying, the moonlight lighting up his eyes.

"Wow. Just wow." They both thought in unison.

She decided to take the first step, making her way slowly down the staircase. Her descent had Terra memorized. It felt as if there was a charged hum in the air, almost tangible.

When she reached the bottom she stopped a few paces away, holding her arms to her chest to keep them from shaking. Terra shuddered, breaking the spell that had them so entranced.

"Aqua"

"Terra"

He nodded his head as an indication to follow him. She followed. They walked in silence for a while, sneaking glances at each other now and again, making sure no one was going to run.

"It's beautiful tonight," she whispered, looking at the ground. Terra felt himself physically swallow back a mushy reply. Instead he settled on:

"If it's so beautiful why are you looking at the ground?"

Aqua laughed, it was a beautiful sound. He felt a smirk tug at the corners of his mouth. They continued along, resuming their stoic silence, but the tension had eased.

As they walked their hands suddenly seemed to find each other like magnets. They both stopped, looked down, and up into one anothers faces in unison. As they stared Aqua felt the familiar sensation of being sucked into his eyes. She started to move away, but Terra squeezed her hand and grabbed her other so that she was forced to face him. The staring contest resumed. He stepped in jut as she did. She was so close to his chest that if she wanted to she could lay her head on it. Due to his height she was forced to look up, this didn't help matters any due to her closer proximity to his lips.

"How long?" He asked, looking down, his eyes so soft that she had to blink herself to reality.

"Since…"

"Our training started." he finished. He was right. She knew the answer was the same for him too.

She released one of her hands to cup his cheek. His eyes closed momentarily as he inclined his head in the direction of her hand. He put his newly freed arm around her waist and pulled her even closer so that they were touching.

This was a whole new experience for them. They weren't touchy feely people. That was Ven's department. He filled that part perfectly for both. But now faced with true their true feelings, it was hard to resist.

"Ter-" She began as she saw him dipping his head down, but when she felt his lips meet hers she forgot her qualms and let go of her fears. This was their moment.

Terra felt something akin to a lion roar from within him when he finally kissed her. He'd lost count of how many times he had wanted to pluck up the courage to do it but never found the nerve.

He tentatively traced the arm around her waist up her back so that his hand held the back of her neck. When he felt no resistance he deepened the kiss and pulled her head closer. She may have beaten him on the training grounds but now she was responding to his movements without question, kissing him back, trusting him.

They broke to kiss and parted just enough to look one another in the eye. When there was no disagreement to be found they smiled, bringing their lips together again, still smiling as they did so.

Waves of so many different emotions went surging through them that they soon found themselves becoming bolder in their kissing explorations. Once tongue entered the equation a whole new world had been discovered. When they finally stopped they grinned at each other like fools. They leaned their foreheads together and sighed.

Aqua felt a giggle escape her lips, but once it was out all the backlash from the nerves resulted in her not being able to stop. It was so unlike her to laugh like an idiot but she was. Even Terra smiled, letting out a laugh of his own. He pulled her into a hug, holding her head to his chest. He planted a kiss on top of her head before resting his cheek on it.

They stood like this for a while. Aqua listened to his heartbeat slow down to a normal level, while Terra stroked her hair. Both savoring the moment.

Terra released her when he felt her move. She was looking up into his eyes again. He shivered. Her own were such an exotic color that they almost seemed to drag you in. This time they seemed to be sending him a message.

She didn't need to say anything. Neither did he. It was a silent confirmation. She kissed him to seal it.

Suddenly the night rang with a yell that sounded like;

"**_YEEEEESSSSSSS_**!"

They pulled away abruptly. Looking around.

Then it hit.

"Wait…" Terra reached into his pocket and pulled out the note. When Aqua's eyes fell upon it she went white. She then produced her own copy. They both stared in silence. Terra spoke first:

"I thought…"

"No! So you didn't…"

"No"

"Oh my…"

"VENTUS!" Terra yelled while Aqua stood in shocked silence, listening to the sound of feet racing back towards the school. Then she laughed. Terra whipped around, he didn't look to angry, he felt just as stupid as she did. The mystery to Ven's bizarre behavior had been solved.

"Well, Well, Well". Terra said, looking off into the night.

"It looks like he won this round" Aqua replied, doing her best to sound amused.

"That little…" Terra started, stopped, and threw his hands in the air with a chuckle.

"And after all this I can't find it in me to be mad at him. _Too_ mad anyway"

"This doesn't change anything does it?" Aqua whispered seriously, fear creeping into her tone as she looked to him for an answer.

Terra froze when he realized that, no, no it doesn't.

Before she could say anything else he had pulled her back to him, her lips back to his in the most satisfying and convincing kiss she had received that night.

He broke away, letting her recover.

"We'll get him in the ring tomorrow," he whispered before he resumed kissing her.

Meanwhile Ventus jumped and ran around in a victory dance, pumping his fist in the air. He thought for sure he'd messed up when he let his excitement get the best of him. He knew what was coming but he didn't care. He'd beat them at their own game. He'd seen their weaknesses for quite some time, and now was finally able to get them. They'd forgive him… eventually. And that was a-okay with him.


End file.
